Shoprite strike continues

The Katutura Shoprite branch has been closed since Tuesday. The employees are demanding benefits such as medical aid, transport and housing allowances and an explanation why they cannot join a trade union. Hundreds of Shoprite-Checkers employees, who claim they work 12 hours a day for 60 cents per hour with no lunch or coffee breaks, marched from the Katutura Shoprite branch to the Ministry of Labour offices in Khomasdal to seek assistance. The placard-waving group stood outside the Ministry of Labour office while the Namibia Commercial Catering, Food and Allied Workers Union (NACCAFWU) Deputy Secretary-General, Joseph Garoeb, held a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Labour, Alpheus Muheua. Garoeb said for the past two years the union had been sending letters and setting up meetings with the management and ministry officials but the ministry did not respond positively. “How can it take two years to get a meeting with all parties present? The ministry is not doing anything,” Garoeb charged. However, Muheua said the standoff is between Shoprite and its employees and not with the ministry. “The fact that Comrade Garoeb has led these people is very unfortunate; the fight is with Shoprite and not with us,” Muheua said. He added that when trade unions fail to help their members, they turn to the Ministry of Labour to fight their battles. Shop steward Joseph Nambinga said after various failed negotiations with the Shoprite management, the workers resorted to industrial action in order to force management to meet their demands. Nambinga said the majority of the employees earn less than N$2 000 per month. Workers also complained of long working hours, particularly at month-end. Contacted for comment, Shoprite Namibia referred Namibian Sun to its Cape Town head office, but the authorised spokesperson could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print. WINDHOEK KENYA KAMBOWE AND GARWIN BEUKES